This invention relates to the production of substituted pyridines and has particular application to the production of dipyridyls and derivatives thereof. Dipyridyls are important intermediates in the production of herbicides and of photographic and metal treatment chemicals.
Hitherto conventional processes for the preparation of dipyridyls have usually involved the preparation, as an intermediate, of a metal derivative of pyridine, frequently a sodium derivative. However, the production of dipyridyls by such processes tends to be hazardous and is also corrosive and comparatively expensive.